Eulogy for my lemon tree!

I bought a lemon plant a couple of months ago and pictured it growing big in my balcony bearing a number of yellow lemons. It was a tiny plant in a big pot – giving it room to bloom into a beautiful shrub.I imagined cooking in my kitchen, humming a tune , with the smell of fresh lemons and the sight of a blooming tree to soothe my nerves and get me into the relaxed and cooking frame of mind.

There were problems from the very beginning – a branch which carried tiny green lemons partially snapped in the car due to sudden braking. We came home – tied twine around the broken stem, showering it with love and care and we wished to nurse it back. But it was not to be. The branch slowly turned brown and died and we had to sever it to keep the rest of the plant healthy. We kept changing the place where we kept this pot – some places were too sunny, some were too windy and some places had too much shade. Our tiny plant also survived an attack by a pigeon in the balcony. We nursed it, we watered it and hoped it would survive. Voila! It did – new leaves began to sprout and I was delighted. We began to slowly take the plant for granted and only watered it once a day. Weekends we weren’t at home, so watered it in excess on Friday and hoped it will survive till Monday.

Slowly there were long weekends/ travels abroad and we were missing from the house for weeks on end. For the first such trip, we placed the pot outside the front door and requested the neighbour to water it. Then the travel got more frequent and so did the neglect. When I last saw it, it was withering, but at least it was still alive. This week while I am still away and my hubby was unwell and not in our place – it must have withered completely and died.

I miss it , but I can still see the yellow lemon tree although my plant never even grew more than an inch before our neglect killed it. I wish I had taken more care and I do hope someday I can nurture and grow a tree – like the one I see in my head!

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree!

I miss you, my dear sapling!

P.S : After writing this big eulogy, I finally went home and saw my resilient sapling still alive in-spite of our negligence. Sorry my dear hubby for accusing you to be the killer of my lemon tree!